News Article

Bicycles Not a Niche Market Anymore

REICHSHOF, Germany – Ralf Bohle GmbH, maker of the renowned Schwalbe tires, previews confidently to the major autumn trade fairs in Friedrichshafen and Las Vegas. “In 2013, the bicycle became more and more popular for everyday transport,” says MD Frank Bohle.

“After decades of purely filling a niche, the bicycle sector has won respect virtually all over the world in the last ten years. Especially in big metropolitan areas, traffic is now also being shaped by the modern bike: There is hardly a large city left in Europe that can afford not to develop special concepts for bicycle traffic.”

Also Frank Bohle points to the planned visit of the German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel to Eurobike, “In Friedrichshafen, a representative of the highest political level will attend a bicycle trade fair for the very first time.

With that the bicycle receives finally the public recognition it deserves.” Bohle didn’t forget the past, “When we promoted the bicycle as an everyday means of transport, we were rarely taken seriously.”

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At Eurobike and Interbike Bohle will present noteworthy new Schwalbe tires while in Las Vegas Bohle USA will also be presented. This is the new Bohle Group subsidiary which was established in 2013. It is to generate an important logistics advantage. Bohle,”With our new warehouse in the United States, we can now directly supply our rapidly growing business in North America.

In the first six months of the year, Schwalbe’s export successes on other continents compensated to a large extent the rather quiet business in Europe.”

The new Schwalbe tires are both tubeless types and one of the two is a world’s first; a tubeless touring tire. More details are not available yet and will be made public at Eurobike. The other new tubeless tire is the Schwalbe One. It uses a compound with new polymer types which makes the Schwalbe One faster and, at the same time, more reliable, claims Bohle. This racing tire will also be available in a tubeless version at IBDs all over the world this autumn